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Tag https://www.facebook.com/ics/ and provide credit VSO /Emma PlunkettrnrnBackground info on the poet: rnAnisa Nur speaking about ‘The Women’s Public Service Announcement’rn rn“I think the way women are being let down around the world is astonishing, and people who have the power to help are making it worse. When you look at the re-introduction of the global gag rule, and changes that are being made to women’s rights around abortion in America, it’s terrifying.rnrn“When I wrote ‘‘The Women’s Public Service Announcement’, I was thinking about how I’d felt on the recent Women’s March. It was really emotive for me to see so many people coming together to say: “Women are important, and Muslims are important”. It made me feel elated, hopeful.rnrn“For me, poetry is powerful because it summarises in a few short words the experiences of people all over the world. It expresses and gives validity to those experiences. My poetry is about sexism and racism because these are things I have had to deal with personally, and seen people close to me deal with.rnrn“I was raised by a single mother, surrounded by aunties and four sisters, surrounded by strong women. When I started noticing the sexism that exists in society it went against everything I had experienced. We are told that women are weak, but I’d seen them be strong. We are told that women are worth less than men, but I’d been surrounded by women of such incredible value.rnrn“Growing up as a Somali British woman can be very othering. People assume you’re not as clever, they underestimate you. In Somali culture, I’m seen as too westernised. In Britain, I’m seen as too ethnically ambiguous. I’m a hybrid and it was hard to find a middle ground until one of my friends said: “You’re not either, you’re both. Take the best parts of each, you don’t have to choose a side.rnrnAnisa’s work is also influenced by her experience of volunteering in South Africa. From July to September last year she lived in Ngqeleni, a small town in eastern South Africa, and worked on a project to improve young people’s sexual health and campaign against gender based violence with Restless Development, through the UK Government funded and VSO led International Citizen Service (ICS) programme.rnrnAnisa and her team mates, from the UK and South Africa, delivered educational sessions in schools and the local community that covered topics including contraception, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), HIV and AIDS, and healthy relationships. South Africa has one of the highest rates of HIV infection in the world, with HIV infection rates among adolescent girls on average five times higher than among boys as a result of lack of access to education, poverty and gender based violence.rnrn“Last year, I travelled to South Africa to volunteer through International Citizen Service. I was teaching in schools and clinics about sexual health and gender based violence. It was difficult to see how women were treated in South Africa, but it wasn’t a surprise. Everywhere you go women are treated like that.rnrn“What I really loved about my placement was teaching children about emotional violence and relationship responsibilities. Everyone should know this stuff, but so often no one sits you down and speaks to you about it. No one says “Do you know your rights? Do you know that when someone speaks to you like that it’s not okay?” My time in South Africa gave me the skills and the language I needed to talk about these things. Since I’ve come back, I’ve had those conversations with my younger sisters, and anyone else who will listen.rnrn“Before I went to South Africa, I only wrote poetry on a whim and I never shared it with anyone. Doing ICS made me realise I was writing about something bigger than me, I was writing for a cause – so even if I didn’t want to share it, I had to. It gave me the confidence to share my poetry, and to pursue a career in writing.rnrn“I want people who read this poem to feel empowered, to feel that they can face these challenges and come together to overcome them. Even if you don’t call yourself a feminist, I want you to read it and understand that it is for you. It doesn’t matter what your religion, your race or your gender is – this poem is for us all.”
Source:
ICS (International Citizens Service)
Contact name:
LouiseSheridan
Contact email:
Louise.Sheridan@vsoint.org
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